Seto Kaiba: A Comedy of Fates
by Jackqin Unama
Summary: Side-swiped into a place where an over-eccentric cult attempts to rule his (and others like his) world, Kaiba, Seto is trapped between the actions of his recent past and his unknown future. There is so much to know, but does he truly want to discern it? Multiple crossovers.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

…_She reads from her book: "In the beginning, people had nothing. Their bodies ached and their hearts held nothing but hatred. They fought endlessly, but death never came. They despaired, stuck in an eternal quagmire. _

_"Not much different then as it is today, is it?" she comments._

_"Not really," I admit, finally feeling comfortable._

_"There is hope," she said, "There's always hope in religion. That's how it's always been. First chaos, then hope."_

_She continues to read, turning the page. On one page, there was a man. On the other page, a woman. Between them, a deity in a red gown. "Then a man offered a serpent to the sun and prayed for salvation. A woman offered a reed to the sun and asked for joy. Feeling pity for the sadness that had overrun the earth, god was born from those two people. _

_She turns the page; the deity stretching out its hand, "God made time and divided it into day and night. _

_Another page, the people happy and dancing; "God outlined the road to salvation and gave people joy. _

_Once more, another turn of the page; a man growing from infancy to a pile of bones, "And god took endless time away from the people._

_"God created beings to lead people in obedience to her…"_

_"Shouldn't it say goddess?" I interrupt._

_"No. God."_

"_But you just created a different god; a female."_

_Jounouchi shook his head, "This is not the same god as the Judea/Christian believes."_

"_But it still should say goddess," I argue._

_Kama-san raises a brow, "Are you done with your etymology?" When I didn't respond, she continues, turning another page filled with three horrifying creatures on one side and angels and other deities on the other. "The red god, Xuchilbara; the yellow god, Lobsel Vith: many gods and angels." _

_I didn't dare comment that one of those angels look almost like Yugi. _

_Another page; the deity on the ground, turning into a rose as the people around her were crying, "Finally, god set out to create paradise where people would be happy just by being there. But there, god's strength ran out and she collapsed. All the world's people grieved this unfortunate event, yet god breathed her last. She returned to the dust, promising to come again."_

_"What's the use in telling me this?" I ask, impatient. I didn't trust this woman's childish antics. Her story didn't make much sense. None of this made any logical sense at all. _

_She hands me a small picture that was wedged between the pages, "Our god has returned."_

_I look at the photo, recognizing the person, and said, "That's your god?" She stares back at me, her blue hair flown in waves about her back. Her eyes of blue, green and grey stare daintily behind her. Her curvy frame looks beautiful in her small white peasant dress. "But that's Gwinna."_

_"The path to paradise is nearly here. Those in other worlds must offer their prayers and forget not their faith. They wait in patience for the path of paradise to be opened."_

_I look around the decrepit place. "This is paradise…?"_


	2. Chapter 2

_"The one who succumbs to the future can't see the light of hope!"_

– Kaiba, Seto

I'd arrive to work the same as I always do: the first employee there. A quarter to six and I'm in my office, working, distracting myself. A half past six and my receptionist comes in with my insight of the day.

"You have four meetings," she said. "The first is at eleven-thirty…"

The rest became static.

I was consumed with my work, not once was I bothered by the destitute of the room. It was when I stop typing to view what I had done did I notice my watch. It reads ten sixteen. I pause and took a deep breath. My life revolves around those numbers now. At ten sixteen, I go to bed. At ten sixteen, I eat breakfast. At ten sixteen, I stop and let my mind wander. At ten sixteen, I felt the pull of someone breaking a piece of my insides. At ten sixteen, a part of me dies.

It was meant to be therapeutic, the numbers, but in actuality, I was bothered by that time and I remember why. The memory of racing through the woods with him in attempt to escape what was in store for us, the dogs and crazed men chasing after us. I recall the lake and his voice full of urgency to press forward without him. I ran up the hill, avoiding the jutted roots and rocks. I remember glancing down at my watch as I balanced myself on a tree trunk. It was ten sixteen when I heard a gun fired. I saw his body shuddering from the impact before…

I turn back to my work. I can't think of that right now. Thinking about it would only cause me a sense of regret and this horrible feeling of being lost. I need my mind to be sharp, especially since I'm so far behind on work. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. I squint, trying to see my screen in this dim light before being tempted to look at my watch again.

It reads ten sixteen.

I froze as I examine my watch closely. The hands weren't moving. I turn to the digital clock on my desk. It reads ten sixteen. Even the computer clock reads ten sixteen.

I click my tongue in annoyance as I turn to view the city. A messy dose of déjà vu, I decide. The fog that weaves its way through the streets was thick and harsh to my eyes. A monochrome grey looms over the city. Perfect for my mood. I ran a hand through my hair and glance around my office, the blockage of the sun made everything look bleak; without hope. I observe the earsplitting stillness that used to be filled up with laughing voice. I didn't want to be here. Not in this silence. Suddenly, I'm shutting my office door and walking over to my receptionist desk without powering down my computer or gathering my files. I also decided to be careless today.

"I think I'm taking off for the day," I said aloud, a once in a lifetime moment.

I was met by silence. I lean over the desk to turn the chair around. My receptionist wasn't there. Strange! On her desk was a flashlight, the one we use in case of emergencies. I grab it, and notice even in the halls, it's bleak. I search down the halls and notice something even stranger. Where are all my workers? I should see the bright florescent lights on, the computer screens staring back at tired faces as they type away. But I see nothing but darkness surrounding every cubical, every corner, every hall.

Why is this place empty? It had reminded me of what had started this mess in the first place: the lights suddenly going out, the men rushing up the stairs, trapping us in the break room before I was knocked unconscious and dragged away. Out of slight fear, I check the stairs before taking the elevator down. When I reach the ground floor, I notice that even the guards were gone. Where did everybody go?

I tried to phone my limo driver. No one answer. I tried calling my house. No one answer. Contemplating what day and time it was, I test my luck and tried calling Yugi's home. A static "hello" was heard before the line went dead. With a frustrating moan, I slam the phone down, and march out of the building and into the fog. I guess I'll walk.

The cars were line up on the sides of the road, but no one was driving. The little shops surrounding my building were empty. Even the alleys don't have their usual stray animals roaming the trash. And every clock I seem to pass reads ten sixteen. No lights. No sounds. Just emptiness. I jump to the sidewalk, stop and close my eyes. Maybe I'm just imaging all this. After what seem like forever, I open my eyes again. Fog.

I continue walking.

It didn't bother me that I was the only one here. What bother me was why I was the only one here. I didn't even know where I was going. The fog became thicker and thicker and just when I was sure I was lost, it clear up. At that moment, I wish for blindness of the fog then what was in front of me.

The building was destroyed. I didn't bother going through the entrance and instead climb in through the crumbling wall. I walk slowly, looking around as if I was a tourist. In the fifth room, I'd notice a chair in the middle of the area, the remainder of the space was cover with blown up barrels. I knelt down near it, noticing the small imprint of feet that were on the ground. And it came to me, this horrid revelation. This is where they killed him. I remember the time, too, when the bomb went off: ten sixteen.

I don't know how long I was there and I don't know why I stayed, but I was grateful I was alone. I relieve my anguish there. All the things that were bottled up inside me for six horrible months came flooding out in less than five minutes. I never acknowledge how weak I really was until I lost him and knew I couldn't bring him back. He was always a reminder of what not to lose sight of and what I had lost. My innocence died long ago but he somehow kept his alive and I never once thanked him for being the innocent part of me. He was all I had. He was all I needed. And I couldn't even try to save him. Why didn't I save him?

_Why?_

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that Ni-sama didn't come to save you. I was too weak to do it.

As I sat there beside the chair, I breathe in the cold air, not caring if I was acting childish at the moment. I wasn't bothered being alone. I was bothered by why I was alone. I was bothered by why nothing else matters now. I did everything for him. Without him, what would be the use to continue? A part of me hated myself for thinking that but the other part knows the truth is very clear. This is it! This is the end of my rope. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to give up on anything, oh no. That wouldn't be me if I did! But I can't pretend that nothing fazes me either.

I think…

…I think the world is cruel, very cruel, and that being crueler than the world will only leave you feeling empty. And that emptiness will transform you into a tormentor instead of being the tormented. Everyone is naturally dependant on companionship. Someone wants at least one person to understand them, love them. Mine slipped away like sand in a matter of moments. And I treated him like shit.

I didn't know I loved him so much, but I do. I really do!

Shizuka's voice plays and re-plays in my head so much, she started to sound like me: _"What kind of man leaves someone to die?"_

I never answered her and still, I have no answer only that I am human, not a machine. And now that I think on it more, that sounds like a _cliché_. That sounds like I'm a fool, a liar, to both her and myself.

The world was becoming darker and I had a feeling that something was coming. My spine was tingling as I stood. Something was not right at all. I saw in the distance the darkness seeping slowly toward me. In seconds, I was engulfed in it…


	3. Chapter 3

"Please, talk to him," Yugi whispered, even though I could clearly hear him on the other side of the door. "I have a feeling he hasn't come out of that room since the funeral. I don't think he's noticed his servants are gone."

Another voice, louder than his, said, "He has. Why else would you think they were gone?"

"Maybe if you can talk to him, show him he's not alone…"

"I don't think that's wise, Yugi," said she. "Perhaps we should let him be for a bit longer."

But he begged her into it.

I'm on his bed, staring at the ceiling when she walked in, listening to the music in my head:_ Turn off the lights. Feed the fire till my soul breaks free. My heart is high as the waves above me. _

"Seto?"

"Leave me alone," I said quietly but with force. It's enough for anyone to turn away, but not her. Never her. Even after the episode at the hospital, she stayed. I can still remember her grieving face. I sighed. "Stubborn."

"Look who's talking." I heard her footsteps coming toward me and the bed shifting. I can feel her sizing me: from my wrinkled attire to the messy hair to the hairy chin. "You look like hell, Seto..."

"Did you expect me to prim up," I snapped. "Become the careless asshole everyone portrays me as?"

"No, Seto!" she laid a hand on my stubble check. "Just look at what you're doing. Yugi told me that you almost…" She swallowed hard.

"Splatter my brains on the sidewalk?" I suggested bitterly. I was too weak to do it. Yugi proved that much. I was so close. So close to relief, than that damn voice in my head said no!

"I wasn't even close to the edge." I said.

"Than what were you doing up there?"

"Thinking," I replied flatly.

Her response was as gently as the wind caressing a flower, "Are you thinking now?"

No! I'm flying. I'm levitating inches off the bed and floating away from the room. Down the hall, I fly, passing by open doors. Each door has a memory of us together. That was all my memories consist of: him. Little him. Look! There's one where we're playing chess. And there's one where I read him a bedtime story. There's one where I accused him of something.

So many memories, both good and bad. But all him. The last door before I retreat back to the bed is him tied up in a room filled with barrels. Tears in his eyes, calling out to me to save him and instead I pass him by.

"Stop!" She said, "You're hurting yourself."

Did I say all that out loud?

I turned my head away from her. "What do you know about self-affliction?"

"I know he doesn't want you like this. I know where this depressive guilt-trip goes, and it's not pretty. And if you want proof, because that's your personality, I can show you my arms, and I can tell you my story."

I cringed, remembering Yugi's words. I moved my head away, "Leave me alone."

She touched my check again with her fingertips before she did what I had asked. I lay there, before she entered, trying to go back in time. Back where the both of us were smiling; where I knew we were on top of the world. For some reason, those memories are few and far in between. I know on days when there were just us, I thought through to the future to see what we looked like then. When I was contemplating on how he would turn out; a heartbreaker, a nerd, a lazy bum? Anything but me or Gozaburo is highly acceptable. _Don't need to understand. Too lost to lose._

_Don't fight my tears, 'cause they feel so good._

Did I tell him I loved him? I don't remember. Did he tell me he loved me? Again, I don't know. Does he know I still wear my pendant of him just in case I forget who we once were? Perhaps, though now I will never know.

He gave me a drawing once; it was a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He made it into a card and hid it in a deck. With that deck he hid it in a book so that Gozaburo never know we had disrespected his wishes. It was what I needed to pull through. It was the reminder of why I was roughing out through hours of study and sleepless nights. Does he know I still have that card? Does he know out of the four in the world, his was and always will be my favorite?

Now I surveyed his room with a pressure in my chest that only compares to being submerged underwater for far too long. How long will it be before I get rid of his games, his toys, his clothes? How soon will it be before I throw out his writings and drawings? When will it be the day when I forget his smile or the sound of his laughter? How long until I fail to remember his face?

One day, will I look back a realized I once had a baby brother? Will I forget?

It's not long, I guess, to quickly forget. The next day, I stood up, walked out of his room, cleaned up, and went to work. Simple as that! _Look past the end. It's a dream, as it always been._

_All life lives on if we ever loved it. _

On the inside, you feel like time stopped; in reality, the world is still spinning and the things you scheduled yesterday have to be met today. My day turned out to be normal; I was surprised how easy it was to get back into the flow of things. I acted like my old self again. But well after midnight, well after I finally left work and drove around town, I heard a song: _And I, I will remember how to fly. Unlock the heavens in my mind. Follow my love back to the same secret door. _

Where would I go? What would I do after I had this epiphany?

I found myself moments after knocking on the door of Kami's Game Shop. When Yugi answered weary-eyed and asked why I was there at such an ungodly hour, I responded truthfully, "because I don't want to be left alone."

It must've been the tone in my voice that brought him out of his sleepy stupor. Or maybe it was because my nature would never be at his doorstep at almost three in the morning. Whatever the reason, Yugi looked at me in a way that only us as people who lost loved ones would. He stepped aside, letting me in without neither word of complaint or compassion; his silence was just as strong as any words he could come up with.

Because of that, out of all of his friends, Yugi was the most understanding.

There should be a statute of limitations on grief. A strategy book that tells you what to do after someone dies. That actually driving yourself to work with hard rock blasting through the speakers makes you feel – funny to say – lighter. That jogging through a park in the pouring rain only to end up at a friend's game shop, drinking coffee in silence is therapy. That smiling at someone else other than him is okay. That after forty days you stop turning toward his room, positive that you heard him call your name. That putting away every picture of him is not meant to forget him, but to breathe easier without the need to cry. That after what seemed like forever, you convince yourself that living without him is not a sin, even though it should be.

****Please R&R and let me know what you think (constructive critcism is helpful too). Song _Secret Door _by Evanescence.****


	4. Chapter 4

**** A longer chapter than anticipated. This should explain a lot of things. Please R&R. It helps out a lot!****

_**The world was dark. Instead of the calmness of the fog, I was shock to hear piercing screams in the distance. The walls were rusted with age and as I examine it closer, I'd notice blood dripping down from the upper story. I decide it was best to leave. But when I found a way out of the newly restored building, I had no idea where to go. Either way showed no good fortune. **_

_**I had a sudden impulse to protect myself, as if the change of scenery had potential dangers. But as I grab a broken pipe that was dangling from the building, I wonder how insecure I had become. This is just a dream, nothing's going to happen. Yet even when I decide this was just a simple nightmare gone wrong, I heard a sound in the alley next to me. Curiosity (and perhaps dire stupidity) got the better of me and I found myself walking down the small path. I heard the sound again, closer to me. It was akin to a baby crying and I rush over to the source. **_

_**It was a group of them. Grey, unhealthy little child-like bodies with bony, bending figures gathering at the end of this winding alleyway hovering over a dead cat, ripping it apart with their bare hands, the blood splattering everywhere without a care. They seem to smile when I flash my light on them. And suddenly, the creatures were charging in haste. They had malevolent intentions but I was not about to back down. It would be unlike me to do so. Taking the broken pipe, I swung at them. The grey-like children back away slightly, but still many came. I start to run, finding a safe place to recollect my thoughts.**_

_**After running in circles with these monsters on my tail, I finally burst through a wooden door of a tiny house. I felt a tug on my long coat, the grey children tearing it at the edges with their jagged teeth. Staggering back, trying to rip away from them, I decide my coat wasn't worth the struggle. I took it off. I turn to swing, unaware of their ability to climb walls like insects. Some of them even grab for the pipe and rip it out of my hands. Dropping the flashlight, I struggle to turn towards the stairs, trying to drag my way up. I was trying to find some leverage to fight back. Some way for quick thinking. But as the monsters screech in happiness and advance toward me, I thought, **_Oh, Shit! I am going to die.

_**I shut my eyes, thinking of Mokuba. I guess dying isn't so bad at this point. At least, I'll get to see him again.**_

_**I heard a pair of heavy footsteps running down the stairs and the creatures' growl in anger, not in favor of the interruption. "Get away from him, you miserable bastards." The man flung something at them, letting it shatter, and they shrank back, growling even more.**_

_**The darkness had obscured my vision to not know where he was until I felt his hand grabbing my arm in attempt to lift me to my feet. But I heard his coughing. It had sound more gurgled, like he had something lodged in his throat. "Come on, let's get to higher ground," He said, pushing me towards the top.**_

_**"But…"**_

_**More coughing, "I said c'mon."**_

_**We race upstairs and through the small corridor before he pushes me into one of the rooms. The creatures shriek as they try to rush in.**_

_**"What are you doing?" I yell at him. "We'll be cornered."**_

_**"Trust me, Kaiba," he takes out a vial and pours the substance on the threshold of the door. Immediately, the creatures shrank back as if there was a barrier. Snarling in protest, they disappear back into the darkness, the scratching of their nails retreating were the only sound remnant of them. Slamming the quirk back in the vial, the man sprung up a coughing fit before closing the door and leaning on it. **_

_**I mask my gratitude and fear with a cold exterior. I nearly shrug, "Why did you help me?"**_

_**The man sighs, "A simple thank you would suffice."**_

_**"Thank you." I said in monotone. "We're trapped with no way of getting out. Now, why did you help me?"**_

_**"Because you needed help, why else?" the man irritably responds. **_

_**There was little light in this room. Filled by dying candles, it had a soft glow on the floor. It was then that I'd notice the man trying to avoid the little light. But I can still see his slim figure silhouetting the walls. It's somehow recognizable.**_

_**"Who are you?" I ask, the fear and anger quickly replace by mere curiosity. I want to recognize his voice as well.**_

_**"I knew you would forget me when I died." He replies with small morose. "I guess you really don't care, huh?"**_

_**I grab a candle and stalk towards him, "Who are you?" I demand.**_

_**The man jumps back and coughs, "Don't do that, Kaiba. You might not like what you see. Please don't do that!"**_

_**I ignore him and advance. The light lands on his shoes first. They were old worn sneakers. I froze as I saw the man's blue jeans stain with blood. The blood had drain from my face as I saw Jounouchi stagger into view. His shirt was filled with holes from the gunshot wounds and blood drain from him and drip down his black jacket. His forehead too was a dark hole and blood and brain matter had flow freely down his face. I stumble back to the opposite wall, the memory of that night sprung to life, with the dogs and the crazed men chasing us. We raced to the lake, where he urged me on without him. My watch that read ten sixteen when the gun fired and I watched him go down. The gunman was above him and from my hidden place, Jounouchi just smiled. He was rewarded with a bullet to his head.**_

_**But that was nearly six months ago. He should already be buried, becoming maggot food. Why is he here and like this? **_

_**He coughs up blood and wipes his now crimson hand on his jacket without a care. "I told you so." He said, his voice dry from hacking up fresh blood.**_

_**I felt bile coming up and I swallow hard to prevent the act of vomiting. I fail to look unaffected. I slowly sat on the ground, trying to regain my composure, trying to reason with myself. Maybe I'm just having a nightmare. Please, please, please, **_**please**_** let this be a nightmare!**_

_**Jounouchi lay back to the door, back into the darkness so I wouldn't see him. He had notice. **_

_**I heard him coughing again and I nearly shudder. "Don't worry. I'll change soon." He said.**_

_**As soon as he said this, the Darkness covers the scenery **_before light from the windows flood in. Jounouchi steps forward and I scramble to my feet, squeezing myself into a corner. He advances to the window as the light turns stale through the fog. I suck in a sharp breath as he starts to change. All the blood and brain matter was going back to its former place. The holes from the bullets were disappearing. His coughing had also ceased. In a matter of moments, he turns from this zombie to the way he was before he died. He sighs and lays his head on the glass, looking out; his blond hair covering parts of his eyes. We stay silent for a long time; in fact, everything around us was deathly silent, as if everything died when there was light.

Finally, his blue orbs shifts my way, and I start to ramble. It wasn't my intentions to blurt everything out, but, "Am I dead?"

"No." he said. It was strange, the way he said it. He was not the Jounouchi I knew. His eyes were void of mirth. His body slump and look weak. And his voice, no matter what question I ask him, was deadpan. He also has a sick sense of humor – a very sick sense of humor – but that I will find out later on.

"Well, then what is this, a living hell?" I ask, skeptical.

"Yes." He said.

I was shock by that answer. In truth, I was just being sarcastic, but Jounouchi was very serious.

"How can you be here?" I said.

His face was contort, "I don't understand that question…"

"I saw you got shot."

"I know. I was there. I felt the bullets."

"You died. I remember you stopped blinking."

"I know, I remember a tunnel of white light." He said, rolling his eyes. "By the way, that was sarcasm."

"If you died and you're here with me, than I must've died when those grey things caught me."

"Intriguing analogy," He said. "They didn't catch you and you are not dead, Kaiba," he replies slowly. "You are very much alive."

"But you're dead," I nearly exclaim.

"Yes, Kaiba, we have already established that."

"Don't lecture me like I'm a child," I yell. "I must be dreaming, then." I said aloud. "That's it. I must be dreaming. I probably snapped! All the tension, the stress, the anger of losing Mokuba caused me to snap. You're just a figment of my imagination."

Jounouchi's head presses firmly to the glass as he turns his body towards me. "A figment of your imagination or a figment of your guilt?" he asks.

I didn't want to answer that.

Jounouchi gave a faint smile. "You are not dreaming. I am very much real."

"But how can you and I be in the same place?" I ask.

"I don't know." He said.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know, man! I don't know. I don't have little note cards with your answers in my back pocket. I didn't go to my little corner and said, 'Hm, what would Kaiba asks me if he comes?'" He said. "I died and I woke up next to a lake. A woman came and she brought me to a manor. She explained of what's been happening. What she explained to me was very confusing, but it made sense, somewhat." He sighs. "That didn't make sense so don't point out the obvious. One thing's for sure, though: I am dead! My heart doesn't beat and half the time, I forget to breath."

He laughs suddenly, "I can bore you with a monologue of how an asshole you can be without taking a moment to breath. Wish I could do that when I was alive."

I ignore his comment. "How did you turn from zombie to normal? Is that some trick you're using to scare me?"

Because it definitely worked.

Again, he gave a faint smile, but with a raise brow. "This is not considered normal, Kaiba. Normal is what you saw in the darkness. I am…the zombie. I am what you saw when I died." I wince at what he said. "This," he continues, motioning his body, "is only a release. I can only relax in this state. _Anything_ in this fog can relax. But in the darkness…" he trails off.

"Does it hurt when you're in the darkness?" I said, barely above a whisper.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" he replies in disdain. "Let me shoot you with a pistol and ask if you're in pain."

I gave a frustrate moan, my remorse for him gone quickly, "I don't know why I asked that."

"I do. You're feeling pity for me. And though it's slightly shocking and…odd, it is not necessary. "

We were silent after that. I couldn't bring myself to refute what he said. Besides, what would that look like, me arguing with a dead man…?

Oh, God, I can't believe I thought that. Me, thinking that I am actually talking to Jounouchi, _who died six months ago and still look like he died yesterday. _I think I need to see a psychiatrist. He'll probably tell me that I feel some sort of guilt; some sort of shame. I will admit to that. He'll probably tell me that I want to reenact what happened. Okay. He'll probably say that I wanted him to materialize to tell him things that I will never get to say. Not happening in this lifetime or the next.

Or he'll probably tell me that I'm nuts; either way, I think I'm going to the funny farm.

But, then again, how can you deny something that is true, anyway? Jounouchi literally sacrificed his life for me. Maybe he was right: maybe I am dreaming about this because I am feeling guilty of leaving him to die. That in itself is something hard to swallow. That means I owe him one.

I hope he doesn't figure that out.

"You don't believe me." He said matter-of-fact.

"I really don't know what I believe." I blurt out. "I don't think I can believe my own eyes at this point. Those things can't be real. _You _can't be real."

He lifts his head to the ceiling in disbelief, "Sometimes nightmares _can_ come true. But I think you would have to know how to _dream_ before you can have a nightmare."

I froze, "What are you trying to say?"

"You have no sense of imagination?" He question.

"Those creatures from hell _did not_ come from me." I yell.

"I didn't say that."

"You're telling me those things are from a completely screwed up imagination?"

"I'm telling you to stop ignoring what you see and start believing that it's real. If you don't believe it's real, it will kill you and you will be stuck here like me; plain and simple."

"I still don't understand how you can be here?"

"I just am." He replies. "What is so confusing about that?" He suddenly lifts his arm towards me. Alarm by the action, I took a step back. He chuckles in amusement, "Are you that scared, Kaiba?"

"No! You just surprised me, that's all. We've never been this close before; being clos_er_ would only look awkward."

"Are you serious? You're still worried about status after all that?" He laughs, "Kaiba, I'm not going to tell anyone that you're scared. Who am I going to tell anyway?"

"I am not scared." I said.

"You think I'm some creature coming to eat you alive," he taunts, pushing his arm towards me, his hand shaking, "Mmm, human flesh!"

I jump again, "Jounouchi, stop."

"You're an idiot," he tells me. "I'm not going to drink your blood like a vampire or try to eat your brain like a zombie. If you want, you can pinch me to see if I'm real."

"You're kidding, right?"

He shrugs, "your choice."

…Oh, I can't believe I'm doing this. I take into consideration of Jounouchi's words: _no one's watching._ I slowly walk towards the offer hand and ever more slowly, I pinch him. He was a walking iceberg. I felt the soft frozen skin squish together and I was astounded by its grey color. A zombie for sure (minus the hunger bursts)!

"You're real."

"Told you so," he said. "That doesn't hurt."

"It doesn't?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

He shrugs.

I pinch harder, a little too hard. Jounouchi raise a brow when little traces of blood start to form on his hand.

"Ow," He said nonchalant.

"You said it didn't hurt."

"That did, you asshole. Intended, as always," He raises the bruise appendix to the light. It disappears as quickly as it came. "That's going to sting for a while. I might have to bandage that up."

"But it disappeared…"

"Only in the light," he said. "Once the darkness comes, it'll reappear again with the rest of my wounds."

"So, as long as the fog appears, you…you're fine."

"Yes, thank you for restating what I said earlier."

"You said that already? No, no! Don't answer that, I…" I shook my head, "I'm just…trying to force my mind to accept the fact that I am going insane!"

"Did you just create a joke?" he asks.

"You see," I said. "It's working!"

He moves from the window to the door with the shake of his head. "We should go. This is not a safe place to be right now, especially what had happened."

"But what about those monsters," I ask.

"They're gone." He said, opening the door and waving a hand, "Magic."

I peak outside to see he was right, "How?"

"A magician never tells his secrets."

I slump, "You're not Houdini, idiot."

"Some only come out in the dark, others, though very few, come out in the fog, which is why I said everything here relaxes when there's light. But they don't go near the streets so we would be okay. Besides, I know a shortcut."

"Where are we going?" I ask as we climb down the stairs and walk back out of the back door that was magically fixed during the transition from dark to light.

"To Nathan's pharmacy, if we have time. Maybe I should just take you to the manor."

"…That place where the woman took you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because that's the safest place for us to be; I highly doubt you want to be running in the streets when the Darkness comes again. _But_, if you want, I could just leave you…"

"No!"

"Then stop asking obvious questions."

"…When you mean us, do you mean…?"

"The dead?" he said and nod, "Somewhat, though not all of us are dead. We just find a safe haven and the Caretaker – the woman that found me near the lake – makes sure we're safe. So, I have no problem taking you either, or."

I sigh, "I just want to go home."

"Me too. At least, you can."

"How can I? There's nowhere I can go."

"You can walk to the end of this world." He suggests.

"There's an ending to this place?"

He nods, "Right at the opposite end of this street actually. Nathan's pharmacy is a building before it. It's a humorous sight to see. It looks like the road sprouted legs and walked off. If you stand at the very edge and lean over, you can see the half-squares of what used to be apartments and sometimes if the wind blows a certain way, you can see the furniture falling out. And that drop," he whistles. "The fog covers what should be there: some sort of landing, but it looks like it goes on forever."

"What am I supposed to do when I reached the end of this world?" The next words that came out of his mouth was so shocking, I stop in my tracks, "What did you say?"

"I said, 'you should jump off of the road.'"

"And commit suicide? Damn, Jounouchi, I knew you hated me, I didn't know you hated me that much."

"Seriously, Kaiba, you should jump off of the road."

"Give me a reason why?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because that's the portal to our world? I would think it would make that much sense to go though that way?"

"So there's more than one way out than it is in?" I inquire.

"No, there's only one way out, but many ways in _if _you can create them. As the Caretaker explained to me when she found me, this place is called Amara and it's connected to other places. She called them dimensions. One dimension equals one world."

I raise a brow, "Dimensions or demented?"

"Don't say that around her." he said with a chuckle. "She'll flip if you insinuate that she's crazy. And you know what the funny part is: she really isn't. She just does crazy crap like that so she can distinguish her friends from her foes."

I snort, "You trust people too easily."

"At least I trust, Kaiba." Before I retort a comment, he continues. "Anyway, there are these major religious people called the Revival here. You've heard of them, remember?"

"Heard of them, somewhat."

"You've even met them."

"No, I haven't."

"Oh, yes you have. They are the ones that kidnapped you. Remember when we were locked in those cells? That was a lair of the Revival."

I pale slightly. The mention of my time there gave me slight goose bumps. "So, what do they do exactly?"

"They opened portals to this world from ours."

I almost laugh, "You sound fake right now."

Jounouchi clicks his tongue. "I keep on forgetting you don't believe in the supernatural. The ultimate atheist! Kaiba, where's your sense of imagination?"

I chortle, "Oh, forgive me, Jounouchi. I keep on forgetting that I am going crazy at this moment. So enlightened me, how _do_ they open these portals from our worlds to this one?"

"They sacrifice a person." He said plainly.

I pale more. "Say what?"

"They kill someone to open a portal." Jounouchi said slowly. "An offering of blood is needed for a portal to be opened and to remain opened until another offering of blood is presented to close it."

"Is that why I was there? To become a sacrifice?"

"You and that girl before your first attempt to escape," he replies nonchalant.

My right foot skips its momentum at the mention of the little girl. Jounouchi raises a brow in suspicion and I clear my throat, straightening. "Damn rocks," I murmur, trying to cover up my little tripping act. "Did you saw what they did to her?"

"The Caretaker told me what had happened and seeing the aftermath of it, I didn't question it further." He was quiet, thinking, "You, on the other hand, never told me that you witnessed a little girl dying, even when I asked about the cell next to you. I had an idea that something happened when you found that map that showed our escape route. It was like someone gave you the death certificate of Mokuba. That was messed up, the girl, I mean."

I kept my eyes focus to the ground. It was sad that I didn't even know her name. "Tell me about it. I can still hear her screaming at night. Sleeping… is out of the question now."

"Was it that bad, even for the great Seto Kaiba?" he said, sounding sardonic.

"You act like I'm heartless," I said, surprise.

"Would you really blame me if I thought you were?" he asks. "I mean – now here's the nail on your coffin, Kaiba – during the final duels, when I battled Malik, which I had lost…which you _never_ let me forget, you didn't give a rat's ass."

Naturally, I jump to my defense, "Now, wait a minute…"

"You didn't care about Bakura's wound and his deteriorating state. How sentimental of you, by the way," he said. "And then, you wonder why I always wanted to beat the hell out of you."

"Well, Bakura was…"

"And as I recall correctly, you didn't even give a _damn_ about Mai. What a great host. We were begging for you to do something and you were sitting there, acting all high and mighty, like the big piece of shit that you are."

"I knew she was better off with…"

"So, it was no different with me and boy did I get the least attention."

"I sent in a medical…" the only words I bit out before he went off again.

"_Mokuba_ sent in a medical," he snaps. "We were going down one by one and you were on the sidelines, laughing at us because you thought we were _idiots_ trying to stick together."

"I wasn't that egotist…"

"Don't explain anything to me! Remember, 'the loser doesn't need answers. There is only humiliation and despair.' Where they not your words, Kaiba," That caught me off guard and defenseless. It gave him enough time to jab me even more. "Well, who's the idiot now? What do _you_ got to show for now, rich boy?" He growls out, "Where's your friends? Where's your family? Or are you too self-absorb to even care?"

I was silent as he continues to rant. "You were so caught up in yourself; you failed to take care of other people's needs. And it was the same with that girl, wasn't it? _Wasn't it?_"

I turned my head away from him.

He laughs in astonishment, "Damn, you are so _predictable!_ She wanted to warn you, didn't she? But you thought she was inferior and needed to be ignored. So yeah, I would think you're heartless. I would think you wouldn't care to see a girl strapped to a bed and ignited in flames or see me take a bullet to the fucking head for you."

I stop, aghast and angry at him. "I'm sorry. The last I'd check, I was still human." I snap at him. "I think I'm permissible to make mistakes too, just like everyone else."

He puts a hand to his chest and staggers to the side, "Did I just hear the great Kaiba, Seto admitting that he's like me? You? Making mistakes?" he inquires, his anger kindle. Then his eyebrows furrow, "For a moment there, I thought you were a machine." He snarls.

"You bastard, I…"

"Speechless?"

I was seething in anger. Of course I'm speechless. All I want to do at that moment was to beat him till he look like the zombie he was. Trying to contain that malicious thought takes a lot of energy.

"All the things I never said, I now say, only because I'm a dead man," he points his index finger to his head, "Bang!"

"Damn right you are. If you were alive, I would've killed you by now."

"Oh, no, not you," he said, "Maybe one of your bodyguards, but not you. You never like to get your hands dirty, anyway."

I look over to him, "What is wrong with you?"

"What? What did I do this time?"

"You sound jolly, like you don't care that you're dead. I understand you're angry with me and I don't blame you for it, but I'm starting to get worried. This was never like you."

"I have a bullet bobbing up and down my brain, Kaiba." He said. "I have no sense of reasoning."

"Liar," I said.

"Why am I always a liar? The bullet's literally messing with my head." He said and laughs. "I don't know much. Ari was always the forensic science wiz, even when she was little. Once, she made me sit through an entire marathon of _Forensic Files._"

"Fried your brain, Jounouchi," I taunt.

"Yeah, it actually did. She told me the smaller the bullet, the more damage it will do to your body. Like pinball." He suddenly slaps his forehead, "_Ping!_" He chuckles again.

I huff, "You are horrible with jokes."

"Yeah, fuck you too, Kaiba." He said.

I slowly turn my head to size him up, my eyes widening in disbelief at his words. At a distance, he used to brag and boast. His fists were always the solution when I had something wittier to say to him. But now, he just seems…psychotic.

"What?"

"Who are you?"

"What, you suddenly have selective amnesia? I'm Jounouchi. Who do you think I am?"

"By the way you're acting? Some nutcase posing as Jounouchi," I said. He snickers. "What did you think I would say?"

"A blood sucking monster, but that was close," he said, laughing. He's very irrational, very different than what I am used to. At one point, I wanted to continue on to see what he'll say next. I decide to switch topics, though.

"That girl…?"

"Riku."

"Riku?"

"Sañya, Riku. That's her name."

"Is she here?"

"Where else would she be?"

"Why would they do something like that?" I ask. "The Revival, I mean."

"Well, I could tell you, but you have this habit of not believing every word I say, so why waste my breath?"

"Is curiosity a sin?"

"It all depends on who's asking." He said, "Are you asking, Kaiba?"

Dodging the inquiring, I said, "Just tell me."

"A long time ago, Amara was ruled by two tribes: the Rimmons and the Rundrans. The Rundrans were peaceful people, never wanted any trouble. The Rimmons were not, plain and simple. They created a cult known as…"

"The Revival," I said.

"Bingo! The Revival worshipped a fake god. They were willing to do anything for this god. Through their religion, the Revival was promised of an eternal world with just one exception: the blood of the innocents. They obeyed and started to sacrifice their children to open the portals…"

"What the hell is this?"

"I told you. Messed up! Convinced that their sacrifices were not enough, they started to target other people. First, they did it to the Rundrans until they were nearly extinct. Then they started to go through different dimensions, killing everything in their wake, leaving it all in total darkness. And this is not like they sprung up overnight. They've been doing this for thousands of years. They target pregnant teens, misbehaved children, orphans, men and women who have experience domestic violence – the list is a mile long – all in the name of their sovereignty. People who were miserable in their lives or needed to be so-called cleansed from their sins and greedy ways. Basically, they are like the Catholics and their methods of exorcism. Guess who had their sights on recently?"

"Me?"

"You got it! Your office is a portal to this world, by the way; just throwing it out there."

"What? How?"

"When they kidnapped you, they made sure they killed a few people in order for the opening to be placed. And you had a concussion from the blow to your head. You bled. That's how you got from your office to the other side of town. You're lucky that building is my usual scavenging spot, otherwise, you'd be dead by now."

"Is there any way to close it," I ask, "Besides killing someone?" The thought of having those people entering my office made me nervous.

"I'm sure there is, we have to talk to the Caretaker, though." He said before continuing. "She said by kidnapping you, they made a mistake. They thought you weren't going to be missed by anybody. They thought no one cared. Imagine the shocked look on their faces when they saw Mokuba. Then, imagine how stupid they must've felt when they saw the rest of us. Since you're so damn antisocial and personal, you managed to do more harm than good in this particular situation."

"Oh, so it's my fault, now?"

"No, Kaiba. You are perfection itself. You do not do anything wrong."

"Are you being serious or sarcastic?" I ask. In response, he stops and glares at me, "thought so." I said.

"So they decided one Kaiba wasn't enough. They wanted the younger one too. But he was out of reach." He turns his head to the sky and said, "Gwinna's a Rundran; she may not look like it, but she is. Her job is to protect those that are victims to the Revival. Perhaps reconciliation is in order.

"Anyway, they turned their sights from Mokuba to Yugi. He was innocent enough. He was also familiar to the leader of the Rimmons. He would do for a sacrifice. Of course, you know that didn't happen either. I managed to show up in replace of him that day when they wanted to kidnap him. It was one of those wrong place at the wrong time kind of deals! That was when we met in the cells, planned out our escape, and I got killed because of it. You were captured again, a failed attempt."

"Speaking of your murder," I said and pause. Having the word _murder_ coming out of my mouth taste wrong, like sucking on metal. I had to swallow before continuing, "Did you think that…you were going to die that day?"

"I did. I thought of it, when I saw those monster dogs and the men in robes with the metal all over their bodies; with the guns and the axes and the chainsaws they were waving around like magic wands. I thought of it, yeah! But I guess I'm a little naïve, I didn't think it actually would happen."

I was quick to anger by that, "Then, if you knew something bad was going to happen, why did you tell me to keep running? Why didn't you tell me to stop and help you?"

He shrugs, "I don't look out for my best interest, I guess."

"Then who were looking out for? You died like a…"

"…Dog?"

"Well…"

"You don't understand, my sister can survive without me, but your brother can't." He said it as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What? Do you know how upset your sister is right now? Last I heard, she's been crying nonstop for you, and she….she doesn't even want to look at me or Yugi, for that matter. You know, I went to your viewing and I walked up to her and told her I was sorry. I thought that was the least decent thing to do. And she slapped me."

"Way to go, Shizuka," he said joyfully.

"She blames me for your death. She said 'what kind of man leaves someone to die,' as if I left you there on purpose."

"Actually, I really thought you would leave me on purpose."

I was still. I felt like turning and walking in the opposite direction – the hell with this place – or punching him so hard that his corpse-like head would fall off. I even debated on it: the headless Jounouchi of Amara. Now, that would make a good laugh!

A thought came to mind and stayed like a termite eating through wood: what if he was right in saying that? All the things I've said and done…did I really do it for Mokuba or for myself; for redemption or proof perhaps? Is Jounouchi right? Am I too self-absorbed?

After Jounouchi's death, it wasn't really the same; everyone was different, even Yugi, who was always the same, cheerful person. They were furious that I survived. I tried to make things go back to the way it was. I tried to ignore what was bothering me and because of that, Mokuba got killed. Because of that, my whole world changed. Did I make a mistake? Was it my fault all along?

Jounouchi stops and turns, looking at me with concern; yes, I figure it out. I'm a horrible person!

"Was I that bad?" I ask him and his expression changes.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he said.

Ow! That hurt.

"Do all of you think that way? Even Yugi? Even…Mokuba?"

He only shrugs.

"You don't know?"

"I only know my thoughts and my actions. I can't vouch for them simply because I'm not a mind reader."

"Arianna said I'm the bastard from hell..."

"Ari says things like that all the time. Half of them she doesn't mean. Maybe she meant that with humor."

"While she's using me as a punching bag? Sure!"

He laughs, "When we were in elementary school, Ari had asked me to be her boyfriend. It was a silly thing, kinda cute, actually. I liked how brave she was, even when faced with something unheard of, so I agreed. I guess she still holds onto that after my parents divorced and I moved away."

"No wonder, she's defending her boyfriend's honor," I said. "Did you ever tell her about Mai?"

"Yeah, the night before I went missing! There is some truth to what she said, though," he chuckles. "You really are a bastard."

I shook my head, "That's not funny, not the way she said it. Anzu told me I was evil. Was _she_ right?"

"Now, I wouldn't want to go that far," he said. "Yes, you're the egotistical bastard from hell! You drive us, especially me, crazy with you're asshole-like personality; with your cold, calculating, insensitive, rude, cruel…"

"Jounouchi, I get it. Land your plane!"

"But there's some good in you. We've experience it, though very rare. But Kaiba, you're just…emotionally disabled – emotionally retarded was more of the word I'm looking for – and because of that, it's hard trying to figure you out, trying to care for you. You damned the people that would help you fix your disability so much, we almost stopped trying. If Yugi wasn't there to convince us that you were just somehow trying to protect yourself, we _would've _stopped trying. And even though Anzu was a little hurt by what you did and maybe a _little _theatrical, honestly…you had it coming."

"Getting a slap from your sister was punishment enough. But, being rejected from the only group of acquaintances I had was like jumping off of a cliff and landing onto a sea of rocks."

He winces from the visual, "Ouch!"

"Yeah!"

"Listen, if my sister was half my age and she depended on me, I would've left you there on purpose. For her."

"Now you're just saying that to make me feel better."

He shrugs again. "Hey, man, I tried."

"Despite our rivalry, despite your stupidity and my arrogance, what you did was so…wrong."

"Only because you're being blamed for it?" he asks.

"No," I pause, contemplating. "A little, but that's beside the point. It was reckless, far from the category of stupidity I had put you in. Back at the house, I thought, oh, great, Jounouchi's here. Now I can tell him what kind of an _idiot_ he was in telling me to run. I have so many things to say to you, to cuss you out; to either beat you now and cuss you out later or cuss you out now and beat your ass later or do both at the same time…I don't even know where to start…"

"You're speechless again?" he asks. "Well, that's something new. Twice in one day, too! A new record. Damn! I really wish I had a recorder…"

"And you're making light of all this. So we have siblings that relay on us…sometimes a little too much. She loved you so much and you… oh, for fuck's sake, you are just so…nonchalant about it. What's the difference between your sister and my brother?"

His retort was simple. "She goes back with my mother whereas Mokuba goes back to the orphanage; didn't you ever think of that?"

…Wow, did that shut me up real quick.

"KaibaCorp's investments can sustain him for a while, h-he knows…"

"All the money in the world cannot bring back a brother. He would definitely know what it would be like to be an orphan, because orphans don't have anybody at all, right? And after all you two been through, I didn't think you would want that for Mokuba. Besides, you should know your brother very well. He's not like you. His cares about his friends. And he loves his brother very much."

"And here I thought I was raising him wrong," I said, relief inside my heart that my brother was not a mirror image of me.

There was a long silence before I resume, "So what happened after you died?"

"From what I was told, Yugi was finally captured. Then they found out Mou hitori no Yugi was inside of him. They had to get him out. And somehow, they did with this crazy machine they had gotten from another dimension." He glances my way and said, "Don't look at me like that. There _are_ two Yugi's in one body."

"Okay."

"What do you mean…?"

I stop him, "I'm going crazy, remember? Continue."

"While they were in different cells, getting separated, they were rescued. That was the last I heard of that. That was after the incident with you and Mokuba. They said that Gwinna was given a choice: you or him."

"Whoever finds one of us would get out of it alive," I growl, "And she chose me."

"Actually, Vegeta-san chose you. Only by chance," He said quickly. "According to Gwinna, he picked the highest floor and ran into a couple of rooms before he spotted you. He honestly thought Mokuba was there. But if Gwinna had a choice, she would've run into that building to save Mokuba, even if the bombs already blown him sky high."

"Still…"

"I know. But don't worry, you'll see him again."

"Mokuba's here," I nearly shout.

"Yeah, he's safe here. The Caretaker got him just in time, and since the bombing was supposed to be a sacrifice, the Revival blessed it and opened the portal in which they both slipped into."

It took me a moment to register what he just said. I recall the destroy building and his tiny footprints that was left of him. I sulk. "He's actually dead. Gwinna said she saw him. I guess she saw his ghost."

"Earth to Kaiba, did you not hear what I just said? The Caretaker got him just in time."

"But you said that there are…"

"_Some_ dead people. You misinterpret. Others are still very much alive, but find refuge with the Caretaker because there are a lot of the Revival members around here. They are always watching this place. Look at the windows above us! You see those people there in black? That's them. Watching our every move. Judging us."

"Why aren't they moving?"

"They are always like that. Statues! They are the minor ones. Watch and wait. That's their job. But they somehow tell on us. They always tell on us.

"Everybody comes here; it doesn't matter what dimension you're from. You should've seen the people I saw last week! Boy, talk about duel monsters, these guys were beasts! One of them was small, very white with purple on his head and shoulders, and his feet had three little…toes…he looked weird. And this other guy was green and looked like an insect on two legs. They were looking buff, talking about who gets to kill what; they were running around town like it was their personal playground. It only took three days for the Darkness to get them."

"You sound like the darkness is a person."

"It feels like it is. This world seems to have a mind of its own. It keeps what it wants and disposes of what it doesn't. It's scary sometimes. Some of the things it keeps are not always good.

"Don't stare at them, Kaiba. It's best to know they're there and not out here."

"They look like you."

"How?"

"They look…dead."

"Remember the Revival's been doing this sacrifice shit for thousands of years. Those are probably the first of them. God, I hate them. I hate them so much. They look at us like we're roaches, but in truth, they are the insects…Kaiba?"

"Hm?"

"You look a little pale."

"I was thinking…"

"Always a bad sign," he said.

"How did Gwinna knew?"

"Oh," he said, his face scrunch up. "I would tell you, but you don't believe in that so..."

I laugh, "Oh, I get it! Premonitions?"

"Sort of," he said.

"Okay."

"What do you mean okay? She was right, wasn't she?"

"Isis was wrong when she said I couldn't change my future, wasn't she?"

"No, no. This is different, Kaiba. Gwinna's a special kind of Rundran; one you really don't want to mess with. She's been through a lot too, to get that sort of power. I mean, she had the power of being a medium before…but…

"Wait, what?"

Jounouchi bit him bottom lip. He slipped. "Gwinna's a medium. She can see ghosts."

"I know what a medium is. What does that have to do with Mokuba and how she knew?"

"Because I told her spirit guide," he said with a sigh. "I was there when the Caretaker cut through Mokuba's ropes and set him free and led him to safety and held onto him when he passed out and we went through the portal. A couple of months after that, this strange creature came walking around the town during the fog. He said he was from Gwinna and he wanted to know about Mokuba. He didn't sound dangerous or anything like that, so I told him what I saw. And through premonitions, her spirit guide told her."

Then it clicks, "Yeah, Gwinna did mention something about this guy named James."

"That's her spirit guide. And he's not really human. He's an anthropomorphic red fox." I look at him strange. I know I did. "Some dimensions have animals that can walk and talk like us. If you asked Vegeta-san, he'll tell you that they exist. James McCloud is her spirit guide. Very interesting fox he is. I can only imagine what he really acts like in life."

"What, you two go get coffee or something?"

"We talk when he comes around. He keeps me up to date about Yugi and I keep him up to date about the town. The Caretaker doesn't really know that I talk to him, so don't mention any of this to her.

"Anyway, from what James has told me, when Gwinna met Mokuba, she confessed she wasn't afraid of being around him. That he accepted her for who she was, even if it was just that little moment. Don't be jealous! I don't think she told anybody about her condition, except for him, of course. And James actually told me, but I don't count."

"What condition?"

"Ask her. You owe her an apology, anyway, whether she's right or wrong. I saw what you did at the hospital. After she shielded you from the blast and you wanted to act like _that_? Talk about being a spoiled brat!"

I kick a pebble and watch it roll down into the cracks of the street, "I was thinking about that." I mumble.

"Thinking about it, my ass; you're going to do it! It might be a little hard for you to do, but we can always practice. I mean, no one's watching." He said and laughs. "She loved your brother very much and not in the way of what you think. She was just as broken as you were when you both thought he died. When she had that vision, she wanted to give you some hope. But you turned her away. When she had proof, you still turned her away." He stops. "But for that, I don't blame you."

We look at each other; me with a surprise glance and him with a sad smile. "It's hard to lose someone you really love. People break down at the realization that they can never get them back."

"But Mokuba's here," I said. "Alive!"

"Yeah," he said, a little unsure of himself.

"How did he react when he saw you?"

"Scared at first, but when I explained it to him more, he accepted it."

"What about in the Darkness?"

"Oh, he doesn't come out in times like that. He was already warned that if he doesn't want nightmares, he should stay at the manor. Besides, who would want to come out here when you're safe in a warm bed?"

Through the streets, we walk, the silence echoing his last statement. Then we came across a dead field.

"There's no color here." I said.

"Did you expect it to be?" he inquires.

We were swallowed in fog after that. There was no road or topography to follow. To be safe, I place a hand on Jounouchi's shoulder and let him lead the way. He seems to have some sense of direction. He knew where he was going, somehow (his dog senses are kicking in).

After what seem like forever walking, I finally said, "How do know which way to go?"

"It doesn't matter," he said. "We all end up in the same place anyway."

I'm more than sure he was talking about something opposite of what I was.


	5. Chapter 5

_It felt good to be alive!_

Walking into my room, my house, my office, that's what I thought. _I am alive after all that. _I had never felt better! I was reborn again as an immortal being. Nothing can stop me now! I came back full force, as if I never left. The only difference is Mokuba tagging along everywhere I went. I had a weird sense of humor of it all, too, as if I wanted to forget the whole thing altogether. I did, by the way, want to forget. There was no use in remembering the dead. They won't come back. Why reminisce?

Three days later, they asked me back to the bureau.

"Let's make this quick," I said. "I have a meeting to attend to in a half hour." I'd dressed for it: white suit, white shoes, big briefcase. I didn't have a meeting, though, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

Hiei-san was not fazed. In fact, I don't think he wore an expression of anything less than grim. It unnerved me how stoic he can be. Like an exact replica of Vegeta-san but half the size than him. I still turned away from his ruby gaze for a moment; so this is what it feels like to be scrutinized by a stare. When I looked back, he was pointing to the elevator. "Take that up to the third floor. Vegeta-san will be waiting for you in interrogation room two." And just like that, he left me to my thoughts, walking with ease to a corner, and disappeared.

I did as instructed, took the elevator, and enter into room two. Nearly two hours later, I stomped around the third floor, feeling like an idiot. Vegeta-san never showed up. I should've waited for that half hour, but something told me to stay longer. _Why did I even listen to that dumb voice in my head? _I thought when I turned the corner to reach the elevator and stopped short.

In the room before it was Yugi. I can spot his tricolor hair and short figure anywhere. But what is Yugi doing here? I took a couple of steps and stopped once more. He didn't notice my presence in the room. He just stared at the wall where the pictures of Jounouchi's crime scene were up. From the surrounding forest of where we ran to the gunshot wound on Jounouchi's head. Yugi sniffed.

At that moment, I wished I was in an actual meeting. I wished I was anywhere but here. But I already stepped through the threshold; I might as well let him know I'm present, watching him in his woes.

"Yugi," I said. He sniffed. I called his name, louder this time. He turned, wiping his eyes. Coldness flooded over me as he did so. _Please don't be crying. _

"Oh, hey, Kaiba-kun," he said, faking a smile. "I didn't see you there."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to act casual and not cold. _Act normal_, I thought, then scolded myself. And _why_ should I remind myself to act normal? I did nothing wrong to deter Yugi's longsuffering kindness. I shouldn't be afraid of him. Why should I be nervous? My parents died when I was a child; they left me to defend myself only. They proved to me that weakness is not a good thing to show. Frailty is unacceptable. And unless you're willing to make a name for yourself, you will be forgotten of this world. A waste of good breathing space. So why do I have to be cautious because of a few tears shed? Yugi would expect me to be myself, so I shall. There's nothing wrong with that.

Yugi touched a picture on the wall. It was of Jounouchi, dead, with his eyes opened, staring right at us and suddenly, I'm feeling a little unnerved. His last smile before he was shot flashed across my mind and I kept myself from becoming pale.

"I'm here because –" he stopped, lost in his thoughts. "I was here because I was wondering why."

"Why?" I asked when she walked in from her office.

She was a goth from head to toe. Adorn with a black studded chocker, black shirt, plaid skirt, fishnet stockings, and black combo boots, no one would be able to suspect her as a forensic scientist. All I see when I look at her is a fifteen-year old girl gone emo, especially when I see her in pigtails and dark rose lipstick.

I sighed, "I really do need to get normal acquaintances."

"Define normal," Yugi asked, still looking at the pictures.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence."

I bowed, "I couldn't keep you waiting all day, now could I, Arianna?"

"Go back to hell where you came from!" she hissed.

"Why? It's fun to piss you off! But then again, my appearance is always more appreciated elsewhere. Believe it or not, I'm not here to see you."

"Pity," she said in great disdain.

"I'm here to see Vegeta-san, who didn't even have the decency to show up. I have things to do and I can't wait for him all day. And since you two are so fond of each other, it would be in my best interest to take advantage of that. So be a good little girl and tell me where he is."

Arianna blinked, nearly in shock. "Is that how your mind actually works?"

"Most of the time," Yugi said, gazing still at the photos.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "I don't know if you noticed but we're in the middle of a multi-homicide investigation. Not to bust your self-righteous prick of a bubble, but you're the _least_ of his worries."

"The least of his worries? He called me. He left three messages on my phone the other day, saying this meeting was urgent. _And he's not here._ If he's absent, why the urgency?"

"Like I said, you're the least of his worries. No one knew you were coming. I'm not sure of this, but, did anybody really cared that you were here at all?"

Not really!

I smiled, "I really do applaud your efforts in trying to belittle me."

"And I am not surprised that it's working. You weren't really important, anyway."

Yugi turned to face her, "Ari, stop."

"What? You know it's true! His cowardice proved that much."

"What cowardice?" I snapped. "Explain that to me."

"Oh, you want me to explain it to you?" She said.

"Guys," Yugi said, taking a step forward as we stalk toward on another. "Please stop."

"That's what I said. Explain it to me."

"Gladly, in order to save your own ass, you sacrificed his. And for what?"

"Sacrifice who? Jounouchi? You know nothing about that!"

"I know him!" she said, raising her voice. "I know that if it wasn't for you, he would still be alive right now."

I was livid, matching her tone, "I didn't ask him to be my scapegoat. He did that all on his own. You may think that your Jounouchi is such a perfect man. But he's nothing but an asinine bastard. He wanted to be the hero and I let him. _And I am happy that I did!_"

The silence that filled the room was obscene. Arianna's breathing hitched in her throat. Yugi looked from me to her and back again. "Ari…"

"You're happy," she whispered, "that he's dead?"

I forced a smile, "Wish it was sooner than this."

I turned and proceed to walk out of the laboratory when Yugi suddenly shouted, "Kaiba!"

I turned just in time to see the hand. My world spin as my head turned so far to the right, I thought it would snap right off. Arianna retreat her fist before letting it meet my face full force. In that moment, she turned from this strange well-dressed goth to this raging psychopath. Her green eyes turned black in an instant. Out from her lips, fangs appeared.

"Fucking bastard from hell," she yelled, punching me to the ground, then slamming her hands on my chest, cursing at me. The funny thing of all this: I didn't feel a thing. In fact, I welcomed the hit. Call me sadist, but, I think it was something that I needed. The way I said those words, the things I said... I deserved her anger.

Her fists loosened, her eyes filled with tears. I lay on the floor, watching her. I realized I'm numb. I have no desire to comfort her or tend to my own wounds. It didn't matter to me anymore. I feel empty.

"Why?" she asked, crying. "Why did he have to die? He was a better man than you!"

"Good men die early," I said. "You are a fool if you didn't know that."

"Jounouchi was everything you're not. It's not fair. It's not fair for you to laugh at his grave."

I turned away from those piercing, judgmental eyes, "Life's not fair. Get used to it."

I heard her lifting herself from the ground, then her footfall retreating back to her office. I waited until I heard the swish of the door closing to look at the direction of where she went off to. I lifted myself up and wiped the blood from my mouth. "Thanks, Yugi, for fending her off. I can always count on you to watch my back."

Yugi lay on the floor, motionless. One hand lay on his knee while the other fell to the floor. If he wasn't breathing, I swear he looked like a ventriloquist dummy waiting to be picked up and used. Yugi stared at the floor, as if he wasn't there at all. It was when I started to worry that his eyes suddenly snapped into focus and forced them my way.

"If a good man dies, why doesn't the foolish die, too?" He slowly asked. "I was just…wondering why."

His words made me wonder too. Then I realized the reason why I came. Vegeta-san never wanted to see me. He had all he needed to continue the investigation. No! He saw the anger in everybody and wondered the source. He wanted me to see the damage caused and the percussions of it. The question was on everyone's lips and he even asked it himself. Not, "why Jounouchi?" or "Why did this had to happen?"

Instead, it was "why not Kaiba?"

Suddenly, I'm the only one in this room. I'm the only one in the world that thinks about me. Everyone was saying why while I was saying why not. Now I'm painfully reminded why I don't associate myself with others. I felt a hole in my chest that started to grow. I ignored it quickly. I will not let this get to me. I won't!

I lifted myself with as much casual attitude as I could. I found my things and left Yugi there, alone to his thoughts, while I waited for the elevator. When the doors finally opened, there was Vegeta-san standing there, as if he timed his arrival right. Neither one of us spoke. There was no need to. His cold eyes spoke for themselves.

And that black abyss swallowed me whole.

I dropped my suitcase and bolted for the stairs, through the lobby, and out the door. The world went by in a blur; the noises of the streets were silenced except for the constant beeping. I ran three blocks before I realized my driver was the one honking, trying to flag me down.

At home, I locked myself in my bathroom and ran a bath. The tub was filled to the rim. Without stopping the water or discarding my clothes, I dove deep into the clear liquid, forcing myself to not come up for air. Drowning out the voices in my head; convincing myself I was not to blame.

I was not to blame.

_I was not to blame!_

Yet still one question remained, becoming repetitious, until I also asked it: _Why?_

_****R&R, please!****_


End file.
